The Big Game
by Requiem for Death
Summary: Cloud discovers that rugby is not his sport.


Hej hej!

Så, I found this fic in my 'to translate into English' folder on my computer, and I posted it here. First FFVII fiction I have written, so we'll see how this goes.

DISCLAIMER - I, sadly, do not own Final Fantasy VII. If I did, I'd be super-rich.

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THE BIG GAME

_Fucking Zack_, Cloud thought viciously as he picked himself up from the dirt for the third - or was it the fourth time? - that afternoon. Idiot had kept goading him - '_Come on Cloud, I thought you wanted to be a SOLDIER!_' - until he finally gave in to Zack's constant whining and agreed to play rugby in ShinRa's field with him and two Second-Classes, Jack and Lars.

Rugby, as it turned out, was not Cloud's sport.

But he was an athlete, damn it! Put him on a football field and he'd have them all in knots, but here, in the patchy, dry field of ShinRa, brushing dirt off his knees and trying not to wince at the dark bruise rapidly forming on his elbow, he was not feeling like a winner.

It didn't help that Jack and Lars would flatten him to the ground any chance they got. Zack was a bit more gentle, or as much as a human version of a clumsy, overexcited puppy could be, knowing that he had several inches (and kilos) on his friend. The other two weren't so merciful. The first time he found himself flat on his back on the hard ground he thought it was just their competitive streak. The second - and then the third - made him start to wonder if this was their way of telling him that he was too frail, too weak to become a SOLDIER, re-enforcing what all of Cloud's instructors had been saying from the moment he stepped into the classroom.

_'You're too weak. Go home, foreigner. You'll never survive.'_

A hard elbow to his ribs as he bent over to catch his breath confirmed his suspicions. Well, fuck them. This was his dream, to become SOLDIER, and nothing - not even two hulking assholes - was going to stop him.

"Cloud! Go long!"

Cloud reacted to Zack's shout a fraction too late, only catching a glimpse of the ball sailing over his head before a brown-haired blur came barrelling towards him.

_Shit shit shit_-

"Fuck! Cloud! Are you okay?"

Zack's panicked voice sounded from somewhere above his head, words swirled around Cloud's dizzy mind, sounding distant as his brain slowly pieced them together.

"Fucking hell, Jack!" Zack sounded angry. "Do you have to be so rough?"

The brunette's own slurred voice floated above. "What's the big fucking deal? Little shit wants to play with the big boys, he has to know how to hold his own…"

Cloud was vaguely aware of someone kneeling beside him before he felt a big hand gently push his hair back from his face, opening his eyes and blinking as Zack's worried blue eyes came into focus.

"You okay man?"

Cloud nodded, trying to sit up. Zack put an arm around his waist, helping him up. "Come on, let's get you inside." He didn't miss the glare Zack shot Jack, or the way he mumbled 'Fucking asshole' under his breath as he helped Cloud to his feet and led him away.

#####

Back in the cool, dark comfort of Zack's bedroom, Cloud tried to ignore the tears of pain prickling at the corners of his eyes. Zack, sitting beside him on the bed, pressed a damp cloth to his forehead and stroked a hand through his hair.

"You sure you're okay?"

Cloud's voice was flat as he responded. "I know they're right."

The younger could have laughed at Zack flustering to deny his claim if his head didn't hurt so much. "Come on Cloud, you're not weak! They're just...rough."

"I am!" The blonde retorted. "They're right!

"Shhh." Zack's soft, dry lips over his own hushed his wavering voice. The hand in his hair didn't stop stroking. "You and me, huh?"

Another kiss, this one slightly longer, had Cloud lifting his pounding head off the pillow as he pulled Zack to him. "Yeah. Just you and me…"

"I'm sorry I made you play rugby. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

Cloud grunted noncommittally, feigning indifference. It was hard to stay angry with Zack when the older man was perched between his thighs like this, toying with the waistband of his boxers, his mouth perilously close to where he wanted it to be. The gleam in those Mako eyes told him that Zack knew it too.

"Let me make it up to you?"

"We'll see."

And the way Cloud whimpered and arched his back as Zack pulled down his shorts and took him into his mouth was enough for him to tell the ravenette, without words, that he was forgiven.

Maybe rugby wasn't so bad.

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Ignore the crappy names of Jack and Lars, lol. They were the first two to come into mind.

Another note, when I say 'football,' I am talking about the David Beckham type.

And no flames, please...*runs back to the Kingdom Hearts fandom*


End file.
